Marina Bay Sands and WWF partner up to raise sustainability in Asia

On 25 October 2017, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Marina Bay Sands announced their partnership for increasing the sustainability standards in Asia, starting with ocean conservation.

Together, they have created goals to improve responsible procurement. Marina Bay Sands is also supporting four aquaculture farms in Malaysia to have more sustainable farming – a first such collaboration for WWF-Singapore.

Marina Bay Sands’ embarked on its journey to responsible seafood in 2014 by removing shark fin at all their restaurants and MICE events hosted at Sands Expo and Convention Centre.

To kickoff the new partnership, Marina Bay Sands targets to have half of its seafood responsibly sourced by 2020.

Asia consumes two-thirds of the global fish catch and at 22 kilograms, Singapore’s per capita seafood consumption exceeds the global average of 20 kilograms.

Overfishing to meet such demands is rapidly depleting marine life. In Singapore, three out of four common seafood species are unsustainable.

“Marina Bay Sands procures seafood in the millions of kilograms each year. Given its sheer volume, the move to sustainability has the potential to benefit marine ecosystems and local communities in this region. Its investment in current and future supply chains through sustainable aquaculture raises the bar for how other large-scale businesses should be sourcing,” said Elaine Tan, Chief Executive Officer, WWF-Singapore (seen above).

“In partnership with WWF, we have the opportunity to make great strides towards ensuring all the seafood served on our property comes from sustainable stock and is sourced responsibly. We hope to elevate sustainability standards, raise awareness among our guests and inspire other industry players to follow suit,” said Ian Wilson, Senior Vice President, Hotel Operations, Marina Bay Sands (seen above).

Responsible seafood

Marina Bay Sands does not serve any seafood from the AVOID list of WWF’s Seafood Guide. They have removed red garoupa and blue fin tuna dishes from all menus. Marina Bay Sands’ salmon, tilapia, prawns, mussels, lobsters and oysters are all obtained from sustainable sources.

Enhanced Green Meeting Packages

Marina Bay Sands worked with WWF to launch an updated version of its “It’s Easy Meeting Green” package where Marina Bay Sands donates S$1 per delegate to support the aquaculture farms in Malaysia.

In 2018, Marina Bay Sands will launch a new Responsible Harvest Menu with sustainable seafood options created in collaboration with WWF.

By 2020, Marina Bay Sands aims to host at least 300 green events that use sustainable packages supported by WWF.